An eye for an eye
by Queenapplejuice
Summary: Dave Strider was just a normal (well, semi-normal) kid until he was hit by a car, leaving him blind. His life was going just peachy (well, peachy-ish) until a certain John Egbert (and his weird alien friends) decides to come into his life, bringing with him the many mysteries the real world seems to hold.
1. Letter from an asshole

It had happened suddenly. One moment he was crossing the road, the next, he had awoken in hospital. His brother had been stood in front him, his face baring slightly more emotion than usual. "B-Bro?" He'd choked out weakly, vision distorted despite his dry eyes. "Everything's gone blurry dude."

They'd called for the doctor and he'd appeared immediately, shining the ophthalmoscope into his glossy eyes and looking up with pity at the boy's brother, wondering if he'd noticed the absolute lack of response from his younger sibling.

"Dave? You okay little man?" His brother had spoken firmly, his deep voice wavering slightly.

"I feel fine Bro. I just can't see anything."

Ten years later and not much had changed for Dave and his brother. They both still wore shades almost permanently so it looked more like a fashion statement if anything, and he made sure he still looked cool, even if he couldn't look into a mirror and see this for himself.

Dave had remained almost the same as before as well, the same weak, half-smile, the same hobbies of playing video games and listening to loud rap music, the same dislike of puppets, and swords that fell out of the fridge when he went to get a drink. Perhaps he had become slightly more cynical than before, but that came naturally with growing up, and his childhood had been much harder than others, although he would always be the last to admit it.

Change was something he'd had to adapt to suddenly, messily, with no plan or desire for the experience. He'd felt his life had been dull and devoid of meaning before the accident, but with the loss of his sight he'd gained a new vision of the world, a darker,more sinister life had been handed to him, by a person he knew he'd never even get to see.

But when the letter came through the door that damp grey morning, he picked it up with shaking hands and knew instantly it was for him. The smell of rain lingered on the smooth paper envelope, and he knew it must of been hand delivered as no dryness remained about it. The postman had not been the one to deliver this mysterious package, that much was clear. He knew it was for him, the braille on the front told him as much, and so he walked carefully up to his room with it, silent and thoughtful.

A slight anger filled him as his first thoughts came up with the idea that his Bro had sent this letter, to somehow make him feel better about himself. Or perhaps one of his lame 'friends', as part of some practical jape, a pointless letter reading "you suck" or something of the same comedic level. He very rarely received letters and when he did they would be addressed to his brother, and were often just letters from the school or hospital, things he really couldn't care less about.

With slight embarrassment he attempted to open the package, this was not something he had experience with, but with a quiet tear he had succeeded in removing the thin paper from it's encasing and was holding in his damp hands something written entirely in braille, and for the first time in his life he was unsure about what next to do.

He weighed out his options. The letter could only be from someone who knew his full name and address, knew he was blind, and, due to the lack of stamp and the hand delivery, must either live nearby or, as bizarre as the idea sounded to him, did not want anyone else to come into contact with the letter barre himself.

The idea that either his Bro or a friend had written this letter seemed more and more likely, but he decided against ignoring the letter and knew he had to read on, even if it had just been written for a cheap laugh at his expense.

**_Dear David... _**The letter began.

**_You don't know me, but I know you. Okay, so maybe I don't exactly know you, but I do know enough about you to write with the knowledge that you will read and, hopefully, respond to this letter._**

**_My name is John. And ten years ago my father hit you with his car. His wife, (not my mother, however) had just died and he was on the way to the hospital. He never actually admitted to me that it was he who hit you but I worked it out for myself. I'm pretty smart like that, heh. He has this private study, see, and well...he's kind of become a bit obsessed with the case. He has all these newspaper clippings and...wait, no, I shouldn't say all this now. I can tell you more in person, if you agree to meet me that is, which is basically what this whole letter was meant to be about._**

**_But it appears I've gone slightly off track. Oops. Anyway, I'll be at the Starbucks on the corner of Oak Street at 1PM tomorrow if you wanna meet. I have a lot of stuff to tell you that you may just find interesting. But please, don't come all angry and shit. You may of noticed I have not yet apologised for my father's actions. That is because I believe he is the only one who can offer any sort of meaningful apology for what he has done to you. But however, it's any consolation, I hate him just as much as you do, if not more. It's a long story. A really long one. Almost as long as this crappy letter has ended up being._**

**_So, uh, yeah. Yours truly and stuff, John._**

Dave stared at the letter, reading it over and over with more difficulty each time. What was this? Some sort of sick prank? Would his friends really stoop this low? It didn't seem like it was written by any of them but he couldn't be sure. It could of been Terezi, an ex-girlfriend of his but a person with whom he remained close friends with. She was also blind and so had slight experience with Braille. No. Not even she would do such a lame thing.

He ran through names in his head. Karkat? Sollux? They were both douchebags that he spent most of recess and lunch with but he doubted they'd be smart enough to deliver such a well executed prank. Jade? Rose? Kanaya? Nah, those chicks were too nice and also probably had better things to do with their time. He also doubted this was the work of his Bro because these days he was rarely even around anymore, plus he knew Dave hated him so he doubted he'd want him to dislike him anymore.

So the letter was real. Wow. So this John person was telling the truth. Shit. He hadn't heard anything from the driver in ten years and then suddenly on one random day in July he ends up with a letter from the guys son? He hadn't even mentioned what age he was, or even his second name, so looking him up was out of the question. He saw no other option than to meet this mysterious person who seemed extremely lame and dorky, if not slightly well-spoken, and see what he really had to say.

And if it so happened that John never turned up, or he was greeted with one of his snickering friends instead, then so be it.

It's not like he had anything to lose.


	2. Dave loser

That day at school Dave remained more quiet than usual, he was in deep thought about a lot of things, mainly the John person.

"What's the matter with you today, cool kid?" Terezi broke his silence during recess, in that loud, rather obnoxious voice of hers.

"Nothing." He muttered tiredly, and he would of rolled his eyes but a) nobody would of seen and b) that wasn't even possible anymore.

"You're acting even more depressed than usual!" She argued, spitting slightly. What was it with him having friends that couldn't get a word out without spraying their conversational partner in damp saliva?

"Thup lothers." Speak of the spitters and they will appear, obviously.

"Oh hey Sollux! Do you know why Dave is in such a bad mood?" Terezi spoke to the raven-haired computer freak.

"He'th alwayths in a bad mood." Sollux deadpanned, pushing his red and blue glasses further up his nose.

Again, what was it with him and having friends that wore glasses? And they were always super lame ones as well.

"Well no wonder with friends as shitty as you." Dave spoke suddenly, standing up dramatically. Oh shit no, he was starting to sound like Karkat. Abort. Abort. He sat back down quickly and sighed. "I'm just..going through some stuff. It's fine."

Terezi and Sollux exchanged looks with each other. Well, they looked in the general direction of each other anyway. Eye contact was hard when both people were wearing glasses and one of them was also blind.

"Well..if you ever wanna talk..." Terezi started.

"Then go speak to KK or thomething becauth I don't really give a thit." Sollux finished the sentence promptly.

Well, his friends could be worse, he supposed.

The next day he woke up sharp. He'd had an almost sleepless night and was eager to get up and ready. The decided meeting point was only a short walk away so at half nine he knocked on Bro's door to tell him he was going.

The door opened slowly and out walked someone who was definitely not Bro.

"Who the fuck are youu?" A women's voice slurred clearly not sober, and Dave sighed. Typical Bro.

"Bro I'm going to Starbucks, be back never." Dave shouted loudly, knowing his brother would be in there.

"Whats with you peoplee and sun g-glasses?" The woman muttered in confusion as Dave walked out the door.

He brought out his walking cane despite knowing the exact route (he didn't care about running into people but they usually had something to say about it) and began walking along the street to his desired location.

He walked in nervously, legs shaking slightly and he silently cursed himself for getting into such a state. He rubbed his palms, wet with perspiration, on his trouser legs and prayed the John person would be there already and call him over.

He stood for what felt like a lifetime, feeling everyone's eyes on his and he pretended to browse the tables as though looking for someone, which he supposed he would of been, had he been able to see.

"David?" A voice of about his age spoke up suddenly. "O-over here!"

Over where dumbass? Dave thought to himself, but sighed and walked towards the voice, hitting a few tables and chairs along the way.

"Its uh, me, John." The voice spoke from besides him, and he felt for an empty chair and took a seat, legs still shaking.

"Hello." Dave said, face emotionless.

"I-I'm so glad you came! In all honesty I didn't expect you to!" John spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"What do you look like?" Dave asked bluntly.

"W-what?" The other boy frowned.

"I said, what do you look like? I need to know so I can picture you talking."

"Oh...right." John felt his face burn red slightly, and he looked away for a moment.

Dave sighed. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

"Well uh let's see! I have black hair, and glasses.."

"Glasses?" Dave couldn't hold back a snort. Glasses. Why did everyone have glasses?

"Uh, yeah. And I guess I'm like medium height or something, and normal weight, like, pfft, I'm not obese or anything!" The boy burst into sudden laughter.

Wow. Easily amused clearly. Very sophisticated sense of humour too.

Dave sighed once more. "See, black hair and glasses, isn't really doing much for me. That isn't enough. Like I need to know your eye colour, your skin tone. Hair style, clothing, exact height, it's not fucking hard you know. But whatever, just tell me whatever the fuck it is you wanted to tell me and then we never have to see each other again."

The raven-haired boy's face fell suddenly, and Dave could of sworn the awkward silence that followed was John holding back tears.

He sniffed loudly before speaking in a slightly wavering voice. "R-right. Well. Yeah. The thing is, I have this friend. Eridan. Well okay so he's not really my friend but I do know him. He likes science and stuff and well he thinks he made this thing that could temporarily cure blindness. Like for real dude. But the thing is his family is kinda not the most, uh...shall we say, trusted family ever and-"

"Wait. What's his second name? Don't tell me it's Amp-"

"Ampora. Yeah. Haha."

"Okay so are you taking the piss or what? You expect me to believe every word that comes out some random guy in Starbucks mouth, especially when said words are things along the lines of Eridan fucking Ampora, who from what I last heard's brother Cronus is on the child sex offenders list-"

"She was 18! Or at least he said he thought she was!"

"You expect me to believe that he of all people has made some miracle cure for blindness and, let me guess, wants me to be the fucking lab monkey that tries it? Is this seriously what you're asking me to believe?"

John was quiet for a minute, thoughtful. "Well...yeah! Pretty much! This is the only chance you're gonna get to have your vision back, even for a short period of time. If all goes well then he can research further and possibly give you your sight back permanently! Isn't that freaking amazing?"

"No, 'John Egbert', if that's even your real name, I don't think it actually is. Your father is the one that did this to me in the first place so why the fuck would I trust you or any of your weird fucking friends anywhere near my eyes!? I mean, you know I could go to the police now. Tell everyone it was your dad who did this and get him arrested for life, get your little Eridan buddy and probably yourself locked up good as well. I could go right now and do that!"

"Well yeah...you could. But I don't think you will."

"Oh? And why's that then Einstein? Since you obviously know everything about everyone."

"Because you probably wouldn't of even agreed to meet me here today if it wasn't for your intrigue. And I think that same intrigue is what will make you agree to try the medicine and to give me a chance. I've read all my dad's articles on you, it sounds crazy I know but it almost feels like I know you already, Dave Strider, like I've grown up with you all these years but just watching in the shadows. And thinking about it that does sound creepy as all heck but hey, maybe if you get to know me you'll see I'm not all bad. It's gotta be worth a shot, right?"

Dave sighed, taking in everything he'd just heard. He wanted to argue, wanted to fight and shout and cause a scene, but he was tired. So tired of everything. Tired of school, of having such a lame brother and no other family, tired of his annoying friends and tired of being blind. He needed to do something different, to try the unknown, to attempt and make something of his life and to be strong. Be couldn't do any of this things as a cripple.

He nodded once, ever so slightly. He heard the slight gasp of John, who had obviously been waiting eagerly for his response.

"S-seriously? So...you'll agree to try it out?"

"I nodded didn't I?" Dave almost smiled at how excited John sounded about it.

"Y-yeah! You did! W-wow this is so great! I'm..I'm so happy!"

Dave suddenly felt someone pressed against him, arms wrapped somewhat tightly around his skinny frame. What the hell was happening?

"D-dude! Get the fuck off me!" Dave growled, tensing up.

"Oh, uh...sorry! I just really felt like hugging you then, I don't know what came over me hah! That was pretty gay wasn't it?"

"Hella gay. But whatever, just give me some warning next time okay?" He almost laughed.

"Will do." He nodded, pulling back with a wide smile on his face. "So, tomorrow morning okay to meet again?" He asked.

"Dude. School?" Dave frowned. John didn't sound the age to of left school already.

"Oh yeah, right. I've not been there in a while actually, Eridan and I mainly just spend the days at his house."

Dave contemplated ditching school for the day but for some reason the thought of changing his usual routine angered him slightly and he shook his head to show as much.

"I'll come round after school. Where does this Eridan dweeb live?"

"He lives in the Dualscar Estate. Fourth house on the second street. It's a massive mansion thing, pretty hard to miss, even if you're blind,"

"Right. See you then." He stood up to leave.

"Nice meeting you today, Dave Strider!" John put his hand out to be shaken, but was fist bumped instead.

"Just call me Dave, loser." The blond muttered, before walking out with some remaining dignity.

"Okay Dave loser! See you tomorrow!" John called.

Dave couldn't hold back a slight smile. Maybe this John fellow wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
